title: Integrated detoxification methodology of hazardous phenolic wastewaters in environmentally based trickle-bed reactors: Experimental investigation and CFD simulation.
abstract: Centralized environmental regulations require the use of efficient detoxification technologies for the secure disposal of hazardous wastewaters. Guided by federal directives, existing plants need reengineering activities and careful analysis to improve their overall effectiveness and to become environmentally friendly. Here, we illustrate the application of an integrated methodology which encompasses the experimental investigation of catalytic wet air oxidation and CFD simulation of trickle-bed reactors. As long as trickle-bed reactors are determined by the flow environment coupled with chemical kinetics, first, on the optimization of prominent numerical solution parameters, the CFD model was validated with experimental data taken from a trickle bed pilot plant specifically designed for the catalytic wet oxidation of phenolic wastewaters. Second, several experimental and computational runs were carried out under unsteady-state operation to evaluate the dynamic performance addressing the TOC concentration and temperature profiles. CFD computations of total organic carbon conversion were found to agree better with experimental data at lower temperatures. Finally, the comparison of test data with simulation results demonstrated that this integrated framework was able to describe the mineralization of organic matter in trickle beds and the validated consequence model can be exploited to promote cleaner remediation technologies of contaminated waters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Centro de Investigação em Engenharia dos Processos Químicos e Produtos da Floresta, Polo II - Pinhal de Marrocos, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal. rodrigo@eq.uc.pt
authors.forename: Rodrigo J G
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Teresa S A
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Rosa M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Quinta-Ferreira
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D006256:Hazardous Waste / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008722:Methods; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry*; D011174:Portugal; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D006256:Hazardous Waste; D010636:Phenols; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical